Step #8: Attend lectures, meetings and social group events

This is huge. When you are out of work often your self esteem is a bit low so your tendency is to stay at home, not reach out to friends, not attend events and not let anyone know that you are looking for work. Based on the above, this isn’t going to help you much. If you really are serious about being open to all opportunities and putting yourself out on the market, you have to be social and get out of the house.

I am a big believer in attending professional and social events that are somewhat related to your field of interest as a way to network and ultimately find a job. For example, many people in Washington DC area are interested in the field of International Development/International Relations and NGOs. The “do gooders” of the world, as they say. Great, these are also really competitive fields and there are tons of young people out of school with good internships and a few years of work experience competing for these jobs. So how can you differentiate yourself? By KNOWING someone at the organization/NGO that you wish to work at!
I recommend that everyone at least visit www.meetup.com and search for meetings in your area around topics/themes that interest you. If you are in DC, for example, attend a free talk put on by an international development meetup. Go to the event, learn something, eat cheese/wine and mingle. Introduce yourself and hopefully let people know you are on the market for a position in that field. Be professional, friendly and forward:

“Hi, I’m Jessica!” “ Hi Jessica, I’m Veronica, did you enjoy the talk?” “ahh yes. Really interesting, you know I used to work for an NGO in Russia so this topic was really interesting.” “ Really? I work for an NGO that focuses on development efforts in Central Asia and the Caucuses.” “Oh interesting, which organization are you affiliated with?” and so the conversation begins…..

Or maybe you just happened to apply for a job at their organization, in which case the person might say, “hey send me your resume, I’ll make sure HR actually reads it!”
THIS WORKS! It has to work! I mean, if you go to these events, you are outgoing and meet people, you collect business cards, you send friendly emails such as: “Was great meeting you last night at the X event. Sounds like you have a great job and do worthwhile work…. “ Might even turn it into the email above about asking for 15 min to talk about career advice/opportunities or say, “ Per our conversation, just wanted to send you my resume in case you happen to come across any openings or have any suggestions for organizations that might be in need of someone with my skills and language background.”

Just get out of the house: Even if you don’t see any groups or talks or lectures or events surrounding a career track you are interested in, simply get out of the house and meet people interested in similar hobbies or interests. These are great resources too. Just because you are attending a “scrap book club meeting” and you really are aspiring to be the next Secretary of State, it might be that Ms. Scrap Booking Team Lead has a sister who is married to someone high up in USAID and she would be happy to pass on your resume to see if he has any thoughts. “ John's a great guy. I’m sure he would be happy to chat with you. “ Go figure- scrap booking can lead to a real job contact.


Moral of the Story: Get out and meet people and let them know you are looking for a job. This is how the world works. Like it or not, it is simply a fact.